


Dying Meant You Never Knowing

by MythologyPastry



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Body Horror, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 06:51:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8568496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythologyPastry/pseuds/MythologyPastry
Summary: Years after Reyes died in the explosion, McCree sees a familiar face while he's working a job.





	

It isn't meant to be like this. McCree knows this man. He respects this man, but Gabriel Reyes is, was, dead. Seeing him in a warehouse he was hired to protect against intruders, that's a cruel twist of fate.

  
Reyes, no, Reaper, stares at him with his rotting, wispy flame eyes, and there's a sound that makes the younger man wince. It's the ghost's jaw locking back into place, blood and drool dripping down the injured mouth. He can barely stand to look at his former leader, the man who took him in despite his crimes, the man who made him a better man.

  
"What happened to you?" He says, tempted to go forward and touch to see if the specter before him is real.

  
A smirk dislodges more gruel, and Reaper wipes it away with a quiet grunt of pain. "Angela," He says, getting to his feet with a cloud of decay and smoke. "That witch-"

  
"I'm sure she didn't mean to-"

  
"That doesn't matter," Reaper roars, taking a step closer and slamming his fist against the wall. "She knew her experiments could backfire, that there was a chance of a fate worse than what she tried to save me from!" His face turning into the grimace of a man broken and twisted beyond repair, he asks, "Do I disgust you, Jesse?"

  
McCree closes his eyes, thinking of the warm memories with that name and choosing to ignore the question that's tainting them. "Did you do it?"

  
A period of silence encloses them, thick and heavy like fog. Reaper looks at him with an expression he has never seen him take and murmurs, "Yes. I did."

  
"Why?" His voice breaks, and he clenches his fist, trying very hard to avoid crying. "You could have killed all of us." When Reaper doesn't say anything in response, he whispers, "I never thought you would have hurt me."

  
"And if I could, I would change that. I never wanted to hurt you, ever." It's quiet, but McCree can hear the genuine remorse in his growly tones. "You weren't supposed to be there. I didn't think Morrison was going to call for you."

  
"He was asking about Blackwatch, about you. Said he had to do a report for Overwatch on how everything was doing, completely unbiased. I gave you my highest of recommendations." Tears start to stream down his face, and he rubs his cheeks. "Working with you was the best part of my life."

  
Reaper's body flickers out of focus, and he looks as if in agony. Instinctively, McCree reaches for him, but when he looks down at the metal of his hand, his body stops. "I-" He can't finish what he so desperately wants to say.

  
Looking at him with such care in his eyes, the ghost says, "Kid, you were the best thing by the end of it all. I promise you." He takes the final step between them and puts his hand on the other's shoulder. "If I could fix anything, it was hurting you, Jess." He pulls him closer, pressing a kiss on the younger lips before pulling away. "I loved you once."

  
"That doesn't fix anything," McCree murmurs. "You're a murderer."

  
Reaper looks down, staring at the grate below them. "That came with the lifestyle, Jess. You aren't a saint either."

  
"Yeah, I ain't, but I never actively looked to kill those who didn't deserve it."

  
"Then why did you take up my offer? Why join the gang?"

  
"I didn't have a-"

  
"You always have a choice," Reaper snarls. "And I've made mine." With that having been said, he dissolves into a fog of black, dropping through the grate to the weapon storage below.

  
McCree takes a second, staring down to try and catch another glimpse of him. Instead of following, the man lays down on the ground, staring at the ceiling and trying not to cry.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm addicted to writing about Reaper? Anyway, I hope y'all like this. I wrote it all in a few hours today, so I'm not sure if I like it yet. Nonetheless, I will probably write more about the relationship between the two men.


End file.
